| The second art workshop “Unite to End Violence Against Women” was held on May 4, 2010 in Koldo Art Gallery |
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The second art workshop was held on May 4, 2010 in Koldo Art Gallery. Representatives of artistic and sports elite of Kyrgyzstan, including famous artists, opera soloists, legendary sportsmen and others took part in the event. Art workshops are organized by UN Gender Thematic Group under the informational campaign “Kyrgyzstan, Time to Act!” launched in the beginning of March of this year under the UN Secretary General Campaign “Unite to End Violence Against Women”. The aim of art workshops is to draw attention and consolidate efforts of representatives of various sectors of the society, i.e. civil society, private sector, sport, business and mass media for joint combating violence against women in Kyrgyzstan. This time the following individuals took part in the art workshop: Talgar Jakshylykov, soloist of the Opera Theater, Kanybek Osmonaliev, champion of Olympic Games and world and European champion in weight-lifting, Ishim Kutmanaliev, former President of the National Olympic Committee, as well as legends of Kyrgyz football Majit Kozhanov, Yusup Musaev and Almaz Chokmorov, famous artists: Nurdamir Kongurbaev, Talant Ogobaev, Bolotbek Karakeev, Kadyr Bekov and over thirty other representatives of artistic and sports elite, who demonstrated artistic skills and fantasy and created original works. Talant Ogobaev, a prominent artist shared his impressions about art – workshop: "Having learned statistics and scale of violence against women today, I looked differently on the status of women in Kyrgyzstan. It cannot be tolerated that our women suffer discrimination and violence. That is why the canvas I painted today was inspired by the art work of a famous artist Semyon Chuikov "The daughter of a Soviet Kirgizia. It’s a painting about young woman aspiring to knowledge, development and rising". The workshop participants painted oil and watercolor paintings, decorative plates and vases devoted to one topic - Life Free from Violence. The created works of arts will be sold during the auction to be held in summer 2010. The funds to be collected from the auction will be used for the needs of crisis centers of Kyrgyzstan. There are 13 crisis centers and 2 shelters in Kyrgyzstan. Every year 7,500-8,000 women apply to the crises centers for help. Of 13 centers only one center was allocated municipal premises, whereas the remaining centers pay the lease fee. Crisis centers do need regular investments in order to keep permanent staff, develop their capacity, strengthen infrastructure for provision of efficient and effective help for the clients. The funds to be collected from the sale of works of arts will be used for the above activities. The first art workshop with participation of high-level officials of state bodies, international organizations and large businesses such as Kumtor Operating Company, International Business Council and etc., was held in March, 2010. Over 40 works of arts were then created. From the date of launching the campaign “Unite to End Violence Against Women: Kyrgyzstan, Time to Act!”, i.e. March 5, 2010, over 15 partner organizations joined the event, including National Olympic Committee, Soros Foundation – Kyrgyzstan, Association of Crises Centers, Development and Cooperation in Central Asia Public Fund, Rotary Club – Bishkek, Kumtor Operating Company, American University – Central Asia, Alliance of Women Legislative Initiatives network, Y-Peer youth network, Ombudsman Institute, Union of Artists of the Kyrgyz Republic, Koldo art gallery and others. |
